Sunset Magazines Dry Cured Rosemary Turkey Recipes

ROSEMARY ROASTED TURKEY WITH GRAVY

Steps:

• 1. For the turkey: Let the turkey sit out for about 1 hour to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Remove the packet of neck and giblets and set aside. Cut away any fatty pieces near the cavity or neck of the bird and discard. Pat the turkey dry inside and out with paper towels and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper inside and out. Combine the butter and chopped rosemary. Loosen the skin over the breast of the turkey and push half of the butter mixture under the skin and over the breast meat. Rub the skin of the turkey with the rest of the butter mixture. Stuff the cavity of the turkey with the lemons and rosemary sprigs. Tie the legs together with twine. Tuck the wings under the body of the turkey and place it, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan.
• 2. Roast the turkey until it begins to turn golden, about 25 minutes. Loosely tent the breast with foil, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F. Continue cooking, basting the turkey with pan drippings every 30 minutes, until the internal temperature near the thigh joint reaches about 155°F. Remove the foil and continue roasting until it reaches 165°F., about 30 minutes longer. Transfer the turkey and rack to a cutting board and let rest about 30 minutes while you make the gravy.
• 3. For the gravy: Using a fat separator or spoon, remove all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the drippings in the roasting pan. Transfer the drippings and any brown bits from the bottom of the pan to a large straight-sided skillet. Set over medium-high heat. Add the giblets and neck and cook until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot, celery, onion, sage and rosemary. Lower the heat to medium-low and continue cooking until the vegetables are softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in the marsala, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Simmer until the marsala is reduced by half. Slowly sprinkle in ¼ cup of the flour, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Cook, stirring, 4 minutes. Pour in the chicken broth and simmer, whisking occasionally, until the gravy is thickened, about 15 minutes. Taste the gravy and add salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium saucepan; discard the solids. Bring the gravy to a boil over medium heat. Mix the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour with the butter in a small bowl until it forms a paste. Drop pea-size pieces of the mixture into the gravy, whisking vigorously to incorporate between additions, until all the butter mixture is incorporated. Continue cooking until the gravy thickens enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 5 minutes more.
• 4. To serve: Present the turkey whole on a platter garnished with the lemons from inside the cavity. To carve, first remove the wishbone, then legs, thighs and wings, and thinly slice the breast meat on an angle. Serve with the gravy on the side.

ROSEMARY AND CITRUS TURKEY FOR A CROWD

Steps:

• Remove giblets from inside the turkey; reserve for stock or gravy. Pat meat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl, stir together salt, pepper, allspice, garlic and citrus zests. Pat mixture all over turkey and turkey parts (including inside the whole turkey cavity). Stuff one bunch of rosemary in cavity of whole turkey. Strew remaining rosemary and the thyme all over turkey and turkey parts. Refrigerate, uncovered, overnight.
• Remove whole turkey from the refrigerator 1 hour before you plan to cook it so it can come to room temperature. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange oven racks so the pan with the whole turkey will fit on top rack, and the two pans with parts will fit underneath.
• Place whole turkey (with herb branches clinging to it) on a rack in a roasting pan. Take parts out of the fridge and place the breasts in a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan. Place the legs and wings in a separate 9-by-13 roasting pan.
• Distribute onions, carrots, celery and apples into all three pans, scattering them on the bottom of the large roasting pan under the whole turkey, and tucking them in among turkey pieces. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons wine over each pan of turkey parts and pour 1/2 cup wine in the bottom of the whole turkey pan.
• Transfer whole turkey to the oven and roast for 1 hour (let the parts come to room temperature while the turkey starts roasting).
• Add parts to the oven underneath the rack with the whole turkey on it, and roast for an additional 30 minutes.
• Squeeze the juice from the 2 zested oranges. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees and sprinkle about a third of the orange juice into the bottom of each of the three pans.
• Drizzle the butter or oil all over the whole turkey and the pieces. Continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the meat registers 165 degrees, about 20 to 30 minutes more for the whole turkey, and 15 to 45 minutes longer for the parts. (Note: The turkey breasts may cook faster than the dark meat, so keep your eye on them.) If the breast of the whole turkey starts to look too brown before the bird is cooked through, cover it loosely with foil.
• When the whole turkey is cooked through, remove from oven, cover with foil and let rest for 20 minutes while the parts finish cooking.
• When all the turkey parts are cooked through, adjust oven temperature to broil. Broil turkey parts until skin turns golden brown and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes. Let parts rest for 5 minutes before carving and serving. If you want to use the drippings for gravy or stock, strain or use a slotted spoon to remove vegetables first.

ROAST TURKEY WITH ROSEMARY AND LEMON

Steps:

• Let turkey sit at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with rack in lower third. In a small saucepan, heat oil, rosemary, garlic, and lemon zest. Bring to a simmer over medium-high and cook until garlic is soft and lemon is slightly shriveled, 1 minute. Remove rosemary-lemon oil from heat and let cool.
• Tuck wing tips underneath body of turkey. Season inside of turkey with salt and pepper. Loosely fill large cavity and neck cavity with stuffing; fold neck skin over opening. Tie legs together with kitchen twine. Brush turkey all over with 1/2 cup rosemary-lemon oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Place onion in a heavy-bottomed roasting pan. Set a roasting rack over onion and place turkey on top. Roast until turkey is golden brown, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Reduce heat to 375 degrees, add 1 cup water to pan, and roast, brushing turkey with remaining rosemary oil every 30 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh reads 165 degrees, 1 1/2 to 2 hours (add some water, if pan becomes dry).
• Transfer turkey to a platter or cutting board and loosely tent with foil; let rest 30 minutes. Reserve pan with drippings for White Wine Gravy. To serve, scoop out stuffing and carve turkey.

DRY-CURED ROSEMARY TURKEY

Steps:

• 1. In spice grinder grind the first 6 ingredients. If you attempt to grind the turkey you've gone too far. 2.Clean turkey. Rub 1/2 of rub outside of turkey and rest goes inside - smear it all over as best as possible evenly. Put in bag (trash or whatever fits), refrigerate for 2-3 days. 3. Do not drain Turkey after curing. 4. Preheat oven to 325F. Separate skin from breast place 1/4 c unsalted butter (not melted) underneath skin. Put rosemary sprigs and garlic inside cavity. 5. Put in roasting pan on a rack of some sort. Melt 1/4 c butter and smear all over turkey breast legs wings etc. 6. Cook for 3 hours or less depending on size. We cooked until 150-155F turned the oven off and let rest in oven with lid on or covered (foil) for 30 minutes - let some of the heat out of the oven. That's it. Saved juices for gravy. 7. Pig out.

DRY-CURED ROSEMARY TURKEY

Steps:

• THREE DAYS BEFORE serving, finely grind salt, marjoram, thyme, juniper berries, peppercorns and anise seeds.
• Remove and discard leg truss from turkey. Pull off and discard any lumps of fat. Remove giblets and neck and save them for gravy if desired. Rinse turkey inside and out; pat dry. Cut off wing tips to the first joint and reserve for gravy. Rub half of the herb mixture all over turkey; sprinkle remaining in body cavity. Cover and chill for 3 days.
• ON TURKEY DAY Preheat oven to 325 F (convection not recommended). Put rosemary sprigs and garlic inside body cavity. Gently separate skin from breast. Spread about half of the butter over breast under the skin. Melt remaining butter and brush lightly over top of turkey. Coat a V-shaped rack with cooking-oil spray and set in roasting pan. Place turkey, breast down, on the rack. Roast turkey for about 3 hours.
• Meanwhile you can boil the wing tips and giblits if you are making gravy.
• After 2 hours, turn turkey breast side up. Roast until a meat thermometer insterted into the thickest part of breast or thigh registers 185F (original recipe stated 160F but I got major flack for having an underdone turkey!).
• Tip turkey to drain juices from cavity into pan and transer to a platter. Let rest in a warm place, uncovered, for 15-30 minutes. Finish gravy, then carve turkey.